The field of the invention relates generally to high density radio frequency identifier (RFID) part scanning, and more specifically, to scanning and identifying a plurality of closely located parts based on RFID tags.
Known RFID systems utilize RFID readers and RFID tags. The RFID reader interrogates an RFID tag by transmitting a radio signal to the tag and receiving a response radio signal from the tag. The radio response signal may include information about an object to which the RFID tag is attached. Accordingly, by interrogating a plurality of RFID tags, information about a plurality of objects can be retrieved relatively quickly.
However, depending on a location of the RFID tag and/or RFID reader, different power levels may be needed to detect different RFID tags. At least some known RFID readers allow a user to manually change the power level until an RFID tag is detected. However, using such a trial and error process to detect RFID tags may be time-consuming, and may result in missing (i.e., not detecting) one or more RFID tags. Accordingly, in some assemblies, such as vehicles, items are often manually checked rather than using automated RFID systems. However, manually checking items, such as safety equipment and/or maintenance equipment, generally is more time-consuming and/or labor-intensive. Further, manually checking items may result in human error, making manual checks limited in their reliability.
In the known systems, detecting singular RFID tags requires an individual read per part, which can be very time consuming. These systems also work in environments where parts with RFID tags are installed away from other tagged parts. However, in some vehicles, some areas include a high density of parts with RFID tags. Furthermore some parts have metallic surface which can also affect reading RFID tags in a high density area. These conditions may cause a frequency multi-path situation, which may make selecting individual tags difficult and increase the difficulty of adjusting the RF scanning window to capture just one tag at a time.